The competition is organised by Dubai SME, the agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) mandated to develop the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.

Sheikh Ahmed also unveiled a painting of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan created from threads by entrepreneur Bilal Mubarak during the exhibition held at the City Walk as part of the Young Entrepreneur Competition (YEC).

Along with His Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of DED, and Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of Dubai SME, Sheikh Ahmed also honoured the following strategic partners who contributed to the success of the competition: Meraas Holding, Souq.com, Ministry of Education, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Ministry of Community Development, Dubai Police and Professional Communication Corporation Nedaa. Latifa Bint Hamdan Club for Skills, GEMS Modern Academy, Al-Ebda Model School for Basic Education and Al Nafaes Kindergarten were also honoured by His Highness for their distinguished support to YEC participants from their respective institutions.

He praised the development of YEC since its inception in 2005. The competition has become an ideal platform for realizing the aspirations of youngsters, enhancing their entrepreneurial creativity, and enabling them to launch innovative business projects. Praising the creativity of the winners as well as their spirit of enterprise and innovation, Sheikh Ahmed said the level of support, which the participants received from various stakeholders heralds a promising future for the entrepreneurial sector and enables the youth to contribute to growth in Dubai and the UAE.

Abdul Baset Al Janahi thanked H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council for his patronage and continued support for YEC, and H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed for his presence at the ceremony, stressing that such support from the leadership will encourage the younger generation to come forth with creative ideas for developing SMEs and promoting entrepreneurship into a model for future growth.

“Dubai SME has been able to provide a unique business model that has brought forth valuable ideas as well as significant efforts from students during the three days of the competition. We are proud of the projects that have been put forward by the enthusiastic participants, and the spirit of creativity and competitiveness they demonstrated across a number of outstanding products,” Al Janahi said.

The winners honoured in the innovative projects category of YEC 2018 included an ‘Obstacle Detecting Instrument (ODI),’ a wearable device for the visually impaired that detects obstacles on the user’s way and alerts the user through voice notifications; ‘Smart Karkur,’ a fishing net prototype with an innovational robot that limits overfishing during the fish breeding season; an Urban Hydroponic Cultivator prototype, which uses water coolers with hydroponics as a model for self-sustaining agriculture; ‘Smart Geyser,’ a device intended to avoid wastage of water in bathrooms; ‘Lil Pilot,’ a virtual reality simulator that enables the user to live the 360 view and experience of a pilot from the cockpit of an aircraft cruising at 40,000 feet; a ‘Kandoora Bag’ that travelers can use to keep ironed Kandoora (Emirati National Men’s Dress) wrinkle-free; and a ‘Solar Mobile Bank’ which uses solar energy to charge device batteries, and a ‘natural sponge’ that has been farmed in the school, the first Emirati sponge farmed by Emirati students.

A diversity of creative projects were brought to YEC 2018 by people of determination. The Ministry of Community Development also participated in a number of those projects, including two for printing, two for arts, two for metals. ‘Enamel Creativity,’ a cartoon drawing by entrepreneur Hoda Karam, ‘Legacy of my Grandfathers,’ a natural stone well-being project, ‘D5D’ by Zaher Al Muhairi, one of the winners of the jewellery design competition launched by designer Mona Haddad, ‘Flame of Hope,’ and ‘Drawing and Arts’ were among the outstanding projects in this category